Video:Measure and Handle Flour

Transcript:Measure and Handle Flour

Hey guys! Jonathon Stewart here for About.com with today's 90 Second Quick Tip. Sifting, spooning, and sweeping - while also very important skills for every modern boyfriend or husband, today, we're talking about flour. The kind that goes into cakes, and bread, and stuff. So grab your sack and let's get measuring - check it out:

Measure Flour Like the Texture You Aim For

Flour is made by grinding and sifting one of the six classes of wheat into a fine powder. Always keep any type of flour in a cool, dry place in an airtight container - at 70 degrees Fahrenheit it'll keep for a year, and at 40 degrees, it will keep for up to two years.

To properly measure flour, you'll need a spoon, a dry measuring cup, and a knife or spatula. In the spooning and sweeping stages, keep in mind what it is that you're making - if you're aiming for a light and fluffy cake, make sure your flour measure is light and fluffy as well.

Measure Flour Precisely

Start by aerating you flour by mixing with a spoon, helping to break up any clumps that may have developed while in storage. Next, spoon the flour into your measuring cup, being sure not to pack the flour in tightly. Never use your measuring cup to scoop out the flour, which can compact the flour as well. Once you have a heaping measuring cup, use the dull edge of a knife or spatula to sweep the extra flour back into your flour sack or container, and you're all set.

Why Sift Flour

Here's the scoop on sifting: it's an old-school technique that originally helped to remove bits of millstone and other impurities in flour milled by stones, back in the day. But, with modern steel rollers and tighter food regulations, the need for sifting out these impurities has largely become obsolete. All that said, sifting will help to aerate your flour, and definitely makes it less dense, so if your recipe specifically calls for it, you might want to enlist the services of a sifter. If you do sift, try sifting over a piece of wax paper or aluminum foil to reduce mess and make transporting your sifted flour easier.

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